Chronicles David Beckham’s short, unhappy career with the Los Angeles Galaxy. The stunning signing caused a sensation but quickly dissolved in the contradictions of the player’s image-obsessed handlers, who undermined Alexei Lalas especially in the signing of a European coach, as well as untimely injuries. American star Landon Donovan came to question Becks’ role, the most damning outcome before the latter’s retreat to Milan. Wahl’s work casts insight on the tenuousness of American pro soccer.